Table 2-1 provides a list of Oracle Application Server 10g Release 2 (10.1.2) terms and concepts that you are likely familiar with. The table provides a summary of the equivalent terms and concepts in Oracle Fusion Middleware.

Note:

The 10g Release 2 (10.1.2) environment shown in Figure 2-1 is simplified to show only an Oracle Portal instance and an Oracle BI Discoverer instance. In fact, a 10g Release 2 (10.1.2) environment can also include Oracle Reports and Oracle Forms Services, as well as an associated Oracle Application Server Identity Management installation.

For more detailed information about the Oracle Portal, Forms, Reports, and Discoverer components, as well as the Oracle Identity Management components of Oracle Fusion Middleware 11g, see the following guides:

When multiple application server instances were associated with a common metadata repository, you could navigate to the Farm page, which listed all the application server instances in the farm.

In Oracle Fusion Middleware, there are two Web-based management consoles:

You manage the WebLogic servers with the Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console.

You manage the Oracle Fusion Middleware system components with Fusion Middleware Control.

Oracle Application Server Cluster

Oracle WebLogic Server cluster

In 10g Release 2 (10.1.2), an Oracle Application Server Cluster consisted of one or more application server instances with identical configuration and application deployments. Application server instances within the cluster appear and function as a single instance.

Oracle WebLogic Server provides a similar clustering feature. You can cluster two or more managed servers.

In 10g Release 3 (10.1.3), a cluster topology consists of two or more application server instances that share the same Oracle Notification Service (ONS) address.

You can manage the cluster topology from the Cluster Topology page of the Application Server Control.

In Oracle Fusion Middleware, a farm consists of a single Oracle WebLogic Server domain and the Oracle system components associated with the domain.

An Oracle WebLogic Server domain consists of an administration server, which hosts the Web-based management consoles, and one or more managed servers.

Oracle Application Server Control

Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console

Oracle Enterprise Manager Fusion Middleware Control

In 10g Release 3 (10.1.3), you use Application Server Control to manage the application server environment. Application Server Control is deployed on every Oracle Application Server 10g Release 3 (10.1.3) instance, but only one is up and running and identified as the active Fusion Middleware Control.

In Oracle Fusion Middleware, there are two Web-based management consoles, both running out of the Administration Server:

You manage the WebLogic servers with the Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console.

You manage the Oracle Fusion Middleware system components with Fusion Middleware Control.

OC4J Group

Oracle WebLogic Server cluster

In 10g Release 3 (10.1.3), you can use OC4J groups to to group identically configured OC4J instances. You can then deploy applications to the group and perform certain management tasks on the group, rather than on individual OC4J instances.

Oracle WebLogic Server provides a similar clustering feature. You can cluster two or more managed servers.

In Oracle Application Server 10g, Oracle HTTP Server and Oracle Web Cache were integrated with the rest of the Oracle Application Server middle-tier components automatically during the installation.

For example:

In Oracle Application Server 10g Release 2 (10.1.2), you could select the Oracle HTTP Server and Oracle Web Cache components as part of a standard Oracle Application Server installation. During the installation and configuration of your environment, the routing of requests would automatically be configured between Oracle HTTP Server and Oracle Web Cache.

Components such as Oracle Single Sign-On and Oracle Portal require an Oracle HTTP Server, so in 10g Release 2 (10.1.2) installations, Oracle HTTP Server was automatically configured to communicate with those components.

In Oracle Application Server 10g Release 3 (10.1.3), several of the common installation types included an instance of Oracle HTTP Server that was automatically configured to route requests to the OC4J instance.

Users could then later reconfigure Oracle HTTP Server to route requests to an OC4J group or to specific OC4J instances in a 10g Release 3 (10.1.3) cluster topology.

2.1.3.2 Configuring the Web Tier in Oracle Fusion Middleware 11g

In Oracle Fusion Middleware 11g, Oracle HTTP Server is still automatically installed and configured for specific components that require a Web server. For example, Oracle HTTP Server is automatically installed and configured with the following Oracle Fusion Middleware components:

Oracle Portal and Oracle Business Intelligence Discoverer in the Oracle Portal, Forms, Reports and Discoverer suite

However, for the other Oracle Fusion Middleware suites, Oracle HTTP Server and Oracle Web Cache are packaged as a separate installation called the Web tier.

The assumption is that in production environments, many Oracle Fusion Middleware customers will configure a separate set of computers to host the Oracle HTTP Server and Oracle Web Cache components. Packaging these components as a separate Web tier installation facilitates setting up this type of environment.

2.2 Oracle Fusion Middleware Installation and Configuration Tools

Unlike Oracle Application Server 10g, the installation and configuration of your Oracle Fusion Middleware components is separated. In other words, you first use an installation program to install the necessary files on disk, and then you use a configuration wizard to configure the environment.

Because the Oracle Fusion Middleware system components are designed to work with Oracle WebLogic Server, the first step in configuring any Oracle Fusion Middleware environment is usually to install Oracle WebLogic Server. Second, you install the Oracle Fusion Middleware component software, and third, you configure the software. Each installation and configuration step is performed with a specialized tool.

As an example of the tools required to install and configure Oracle Fusion Middleware, consider the steps required to install and configure a typical Oracle SOA Suite.

In particular, to install and configure a production-ready Oracle SOA Suite environment, you use the installation and configuration tools that are shown in Figure 2-3. The call outs in the figure correspond to the order in which you typically perform each installation and configuration task. Each step is described in more detail in Table 2-3.

Later you use the Upgrade Assistant to upgrade the Oracle Internet Directory and Oracle Portal schemas to 11g.

Oracle WebLogic Server Installer

Before you can upgrade to Oracle Fusion Middleware, you must install an equivalent Oracle Fusion Middleware 11g environment. Your first step in installing your new Oracle Fusion Middleware environment is to install the Oracle WebLogic Server software on disk.

With the Oracle WebLogic Server installer, you create a new Middleware home. Later, you use the software in the Middleware home to configure a new, custom Oracle WebLogic Server domain for your new Oracle Fusion Middleware software.

You can optionally install the following components in "standalone mode" without an Oracle WebLogic Server Middleware home:

Oracle Internet Directory

Oracle Virtual Directory

Oracle HTTP Server

Oracle Web Cache

For standalone components, there is no need to run the Oracle WebLogic Server installer.

Oracle software installers:

Oracle SOA Suite Installer

Oracle WebCenter Installer

Application Developer Installer

Oracle Enterprise Content Management Suite Installer

Use the Oracle software installers to install the Oracle SOA Suite software inside the Middleware home you created with the Oracle WebLogic Server installer.

The Oracle software installers for these components only install the software and are not used to configure a domain.

Oracle Fusion Middleware Configuration Wizard

Use the configuration wizard to configure a new Oracle WebLogic Server domain and to deploy the new software.

In certain scenarios, you can also extend an existing Oracle WebLogic Server domain to support additional Oracle Fusion Middleware software.

For more information, see the installation guide for your Oracle Fusion Middleware software suite.